


The Spymaster's Journal

by wurmz



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, probably..., will change if continued, written like a historical text at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22572526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wurmz/pseuds/wurmz
Summary: Centuries after the war on the Church of Seiros, a book would be written. A historical novel, a historical romance; a work that would become a staple in certain academic circles and scandalize others. In universities, instructors would pace lines in their grandiose halls and lecture at length on its contents and the verity of which, comparing and contrasting it against the articles that inspired its genesis--the paintings, the rings, the written record; the annotations in Emperor Edelgard's diary, the autobiography written by Prime Minister von Aegir, and the piece it was named for: The Spymaster's Journal.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 16
Kudos: 39





	The Spymaster's Journal

**FOREWORD**

Centuries after the war on the Church of Seiros, a book would be written. A historical novel, a historical romance; a work that would become a staple in certain academic circles and scandalize others. In universities, instructors would pace lines in their grandiose halls and lecture at length on its contents and the verity of which, comparing and contrasting it against the articles that inspired its genesis--the paintings, the rings, the written record; the annotations in Emperor Edelgard's diary, the autobiography written by Prime Minister von Aegir, and the piece it was named for: The Spymaster's Journal.

Despite its colloquial name, the true, original Spymaster's Journal was not a single, standalone volume, but rather a series of notes, letters, and eyewitness accounts collected and preserved by Hubert von Vestra across the entirety of his 50-year-long service as the Hresveld administration's Minister of the House and Master of Espionage. A massive portion of its constitutents is written using a variety of ciphers, the complexity of which speak to von Vestra's forward-thinking and innovation--but those snippets that been translated and those that were without abstraction to begin with paint a frank and sentimental picture of the Empire in its age of reformation, one that seemed to conflict with the man's public image as an Imperial castigator.

The postliminary Spymaster's Journal is a romanticization of these memoirs, written with the belief that, for all his years of cloak-and-dagger, von Vestra felt a strong desire for a comprehensive, posthumous account of his life, especially in relation to his two greatest confidants, the Emperor and the Prime Minister. This piloting concept in itself leaves room for impeachment from historians, because for a nonfictional source to take form as a historical fiction, the truth must sometimes be purposefully misrepresented in the name of embellishment; but as many scholars argue, this format has as its own utility. Historical fiction breathes life into textbooks, paints color over spartan outlines and white canvas, joins the hands of pathos and logos together in holy matrimony--and in von Vestra's own words:

_"With the help of a bosom friend, I have come to understand the value of the common madrigal, the penny dreadful, the gauche tragedy. It is not to stupefy, to distract with limelight and coruscant bangles and baubles as with a fisherman's lure, trawling for your farthings; it is to enrapture the mind and prime it for higher thought[...] Whether or not it succeeds lies at the sole mercy of its creator."_

Of its most pervasive criticisms, however, is its prominent and explicit interpretation of his and Prime Minister von Aegir's relationship as that of a romantic nature. Following the usurpation of the church, Emperor Edelgard challenged the homophobic attitudes set in place by years of crestist tradition with the legal marriage of herself and her female tactician and lover, Byleth Eisner. The two ministers were vehemently supportive of the act but took special care to publicly depict themselves as staunchly heterosexual, with von Aegir even taking to an opposite-sex marriage himself. It is speculated that this was only to placate traditionalist detractors, however, and the men themselves were of a less constrictive persuasion. This is further evinced in the unorthodoxy of von Aegir's marriage with Dorothea Arnault; during their time together she was allowed courtship with other persons, roomed in quarters that were located in an entirely different building from Ferdinand's, dined alone or otherwise with different company, and took frequent sojourns outside the capital without his escort.

As for the ministers and their alleged relationship, there exists only one immutable instance of a confession of love, and while difficult to misconstrue in its intention, many historians argue that it may not have been penned in Ferdinand's interest. Some suggest it was his Emperor he had in mind at its time of writing, while others propose that its intended recipient may have been a nameless party, lost to time. Nevertheless, its placement in the journal--only a few pages after his most involved account of a mission he undertook by the Prime Minister's side--is taken as an accreditation of their partnership, and in this novel is treated as such.

* * *

_"And in unearthing my doubts, your love like unpolluted waters to wash the soil from my bedragged hands; and in unearthing your fears, my bedraggled hands to break them and bury them again, your love in my mind, in my heart, in my spirit."_

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in the few short hours I had before I had to get ready for school. As of writing this, I only have about fifteen minutes before I have to start getting ready...
> 
> Definitely something experimental. If I were to continue it, the next chapters would probably be written in the typical storytelling style, but I really wanted to talk about Three Houses as if its events had actually happened... something about it is just so much fun. Definitely sort of inspired by the Song of Achilles and the scholarly discourse surrounding Patroclus and Achilles' romantic relationship. Let me know if you liked it!


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